Pagina's

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Project Run and Play: Signature style

I made it! I sewed along for Project run and play all four weeks! It was very fun to do
and I recommend everybody (who is not doing it yet) to do it next time.
Looking at what others came up with is even more fun if you have tried
yourself as well.

Well week four, signature style. I do not
feel I have a sewing style, I also do not have a clothing style in
general. I therefore decided on sewing my son a coat. That way all my
kids would have received an outfit over the course of these four weeks.
The coat would have come from Ottobre (which is my go to sewing
magazine) and the coat would have been lined jersey (my go to fabric).

But
then I saw this pin. I saw that it was a sleeve (of course) but I
immediately thought neckline. I am a huge fan of children cloths that my
kids can put on and close themselves. Besides saving time in the
morning before school my kids prefer to be able to put on their cloths
alone after gym as well. This is also why I loved the front of the dress
from Big dill that inspired last weeks dress. I bought (and sewed) the
Lilly Fawn dress because I was intrigued by the promise (and delivery)
of a zipper/button free woven dress. Back to the pin of a sleeve that
screamed neckline to me. I realized that a reversed tulip sleeve kind of
neckline on a woven fabric dress should make it possible (for my eldest
who has a totally square torso) to put on the dress without extra
opening.

I started to draw something myself but quickly
returned to my computer to restart pattern search. I searched on shawl
collar and enter the Bimaa sweater. Many versions had passed me by and I
already gotten the impression that this pattern should be something
special but until that moment I hadn't seen it. For those few people
that like me until a week ago have not given the Bimaa a close look, the
Bimaa is a jersey pattern supporting three different collars. One of
those collars is a shawl collar that perfectly fitted my plan.

I
used the six year old collar version and made it slightly higher (a fix
part of "my style" would have to be adjusting the pattern at least
slightly). I took a general bodice I had lying around and paired it with
a Lotta skirt. The Lotta pattern had been on my do to pile too long
already, I love the pockets! I opted for a sleeveless version to make the likelihood higher
that my daughter can put in on herself (in the past I had learned that
small zipper and sleeveless dress pair well, small zipper and sleeves do
not). Trying something new is something I love (can that me part of a
style as well?) and I decided to go for pipping.

After
last weeks success with making my own bias I assumed that making own
pipping would be just as easy. Unfortunately, I had not realized that the
seams in home made pipping (which did not bother me with bias sewing)
complicate the sewing process of pipping significantly. I used my blind
zipper feet which went okay in general (I made my own pipping thread by
turning some thin yarn into a heavier thread, and I should have put more
effort to make it a clear edged thread) but the blind zipper feet lost
its way a bit when he met some seams. I probably should have also read
up more on pipping before I started sewing this week (and not just
relying on my memory of what I had read in the past). Long story short,
the pipping is not as it should be, but lets label it "my style", I am
not great in the small details.

The brown fabric is
from Birch and both the facing and the fabric I used for the pipping are
from Robert Kaufman. I bought a fat quarter pack a while ago and had
not used it yet. The fat quarter contains all kind of gold fabrics that
my daughter loves.

This long story has a happy ending, the
dress fitted fine and (although she might have to practise a bit) it is
possible to put the whole thing on by an almost 7 year old alone. To
sum up my style: last minute change of plans, pattern mash up, not perfect finished, to me
a new technique, un-ironed, zipper/buttonless, twirling dress with pockets.

12 comments:

That neckline is so great, and I love the way the foldover neckline ties into the foldover pocket design! Such a great way to feature a contrasting fabric as well--I LOVE mixing prints, so I may just have to copy this idea!

Thank you for your positive reaction! I was planning to put some pipping between bodice and skirt as wel, like you did, but I was afraid my zipper foot then really would have been lost all conection to the pipping. I will copy that cardi you made, I love the way it closes leaving the dress visible.

so cute!! I love that neckline and the pockets lovely!! I didn't make it to the sew a long all four weeks, but I did make three ;o) I just linked up my all boy style and I'm loving all the other links! Emily

About me

I am a Dutch mother of four (three girls and one boy) and an academic. I love to create and use this blog to share my creations with the world. I knit, crochet, sew, bake etc. and many of those skills I learned from bloggers around the globe. I hope you like reading about my creative adventures and that they may inspire you.